Lots of interesting things happened on this date in baseball history, but this one most struck me:

1945 In a 7-1 victory over the Tigers, the Browns’ Pete Gray, an one-arm outfielder, makes his major league debut with one hit in four at-bats.

There were a lot of cultural pressures building that would enable baseball’s color line to finally be broken down, but obvious insanity of the idea that a one-armed white man could possibly be better than a two-armed black man was one aspect of the shift. True, he only got to the majors due to the manpower shortage caused by the War, but still. . .

Also, a funny reminder of the mind-games played within the game:

1978 After getting ahead in the count 3-0, Reggie Jackson, knowing he has a green light to hit away, pretends to be angered by getting a bogus take sign from third base coach Dick Howser. Oriole right-hander Tippy Martinez, deceived by the batter’s behavior, grooves a fastball down the middle of the plate that the Yankee slugger promptly puts over the fence giving the Yankees a 4-3 walk-off victory.

And speaking of mind games, Milton Bradley is having some mysterious invisible injury issues, as no one could have predicted.* Meanwhile, in Chicago on Friday, Carlos Silva pitched his second straight excellent game, and got the win. ERA so far is an anorexic 0.69, and credit is being given to the Cubs coaching staff for finding some mechanical things to fix, including positioning on the rubber. Silva also showed a ton of class when he blamed himself for allowing two un-earned runs after an error by center fielder Marlon Byrd:

The only runs off Silva (1-0) were unearned after an error by Marlon Byrd in the fourth — but Silva blamed himself for not buckling down with two outs after the miscue.

”It would be tough to find someone who plays harder than Marlon Byrd,” Silva said. ”I should have picked him up.”

Thanks again, Seattle!

*See here.

20 replies on “Baseball. . .”

  1. And in more interesting news, Rockies pitcher (and my bet for this year’s NL Cy Young) Ubaldo Jimenez pitched the first no hitter in club history. He’s still issuing way too many walks (six in this game alone) but retired the last 15 batters he faced after he started pitching out of the stretch at his pitching coach’s suggestion.

  3. I like the 2000 Day in Baseball History at the Skydome. Fans pelted by bits of hot dogs shot from the Hot Dog Blaster. Only 2 months before, Maude Flanders died in tragic Blaster related accident. Will we ever learn?

  6. Unfortunately,1 Earned Run without a walk in 13 innings isn’t luck. And his next start is against the offensively challenged Mets in their pitcher friendly park. I’m just hoping the bullpen falls apart.

    I have a weird theory that average pitchers do well after a crappy season and vice versa. Can’t prove it, but after last season’s debacle, Silva is looking good.

  7. @ CF – thanks again for game threads; PLEASE keep em up.

    Also – please enjoy silva while you can. Talk to me in june about THAT trade….

  10. Silva may only have 1 win, but he has the #1best WHIP, .62, (Walk+ Hits per Inning) in the league and 3rd best ERA (.69). Getting rid of him was still the M’s best option, but no one should dispute after 2 games Silva is pitching great.

  11. Please do shut up about Bradley. Everybody knows what Chicago fans think of him. From his Texas days, we also know that he can be a great player when he doesn’t have to deal with hot-head fans and coaches. So far, so good.

    As for Silva, he pitched well, but you would be wise to keep your gloating under control. Cinci & Houston don’t exactly have powerhouse offenses. Also, maybe you don’t know Silva’s problems yet because they are not as obvious as Bradley’s. Let’s just say I would bet my life savings that his annual back problems will flare up by July.

  12. @y’all

    I’m very interested in how people reason about baseball stories. When I point out that Milton is doing exactly what one would expect based on most of his recent career, everyone says Just Wait, He’ll Get Better. So, the current pattern will not continue. When I point out how Silva is doing the opposite of what one would expect given his recent career, everyone (except Taint) says Just Wait, He’ll Get Worse. So his current pattern will not continue. Very interesting symmetrical reasoning.

    Also, I was surprised no one is bringing up that Milton was leading the M’s in RBI (until Kotchman passed him yesterday). But then I recalled that RBI is a Creationist Stat, and so note that no one is crowing about Milton’s .273 OBP.

  14. Jim Abbott pitched in the major leagues with one (functional) arm, and did it quite well. And there was no manpower shortage caused by the war.

  15. African American participation in MLB started to dip right around the time Jim Abbott was pitching. Coincidence? I also blame the Icelandic volcano on Abbott.

  16. Carlos Silva’s line after his first four starts in Seattle (April 17, btw):
    W-L: 3-0
    ERA 2.79
    IP/GS: 7.3
    H/9: 8.4

    Carlos Silva’s Mariner totals excluding his first four starts in Seattle:
    W-L: 2-18
    ERA: 7.53
    IP/GS: 5.1
    H/9: 13.2

    Don’t worry, it’ll go ‘kaput’ eventually.

  17. …after which he can blame the Cubs’ star Japanese rightfielder for being a self-centered jerk who only cared about getting on base and winning. What a jerk, that rightfielder.

  18. You know as a team I’ve always liked the Cubs, they have the history, the ballpark, Lou Pinella etc but the problem is the Cubs fans. I can’t think of a bigger bunch of whiny fucktards anywhere on the entire face of the earth (teabaggers might be a close second). This whole Milton Bradley situation has just reinforced this belief, two weeks into the season and I’m already sick of you fuckers wagging your finger. SHUT THE FUCK UP ABOUT MILTON BRADLEY. He isn’t on your team anymore.

  19. @12 CF – The thing with baseball, I think more than any other sport, is that veterans’ stats are very consistent from year to year. Rarely do you see a guy’s numbers jump drastically one way or the other without an injury or, perhaps, a chemical enhancement to explain it.

    Bradley is a consistent batter. He’s good for around a .370 OBP year in and year out. He doesn’t hit many home runs, and never has (something I think Cubs fans never figured out).

    Silva has been a bit more inconsistent, but he has been consistently bad. He had two winning seasons in Minnesota in 2003-04. But, even in those years, his batting average against (BAA) was .290 or higher. That is very high. Compare that with Ryan Dempster (.260 career BAA), or Carlos Zambrano (.231 career BAA). Silva’s career BAA is a bloated .303!

    Granted, Dempster and Zambrano have been in the NL, so let’s compare some decent AL pitchers. Freddy Garcia has a .254 career BAA, and Mark Buerhle’s is .270.

    Silva also got lucky with very good run-support during his years with the playoff-bound Twins. In 2004, arguably Silva’s best season, he had more than a run per game of support better than his teammate Brad Radke, and over 0.7 runs per game better than Johan Santana.

    In short, 2 weeks does not a season make. Carlos Silva has never been that good, and he isn’t now. Even if he gets a bit of a bump thanks to changing leagues, teams will easily have him figured out the second time around. He also doesn’t strike anyone out, and that won’t help his cause either. Enjoy it while it lasts.

  20. 12 – CF: it’s not “interesting symmetrical reasoning.” It’s called regression toward the mean.

    Contrary to your claim, Bradley is NOT “doing exactly what one would expect.” What someone who doesn’t believe in magic would expect is a performance similar to last year’s, not much better, not much worse. But Bradley is under-performing based on last year.

    Likewise, Silva is not doing what one would expect. He is over-performing – hugely. I always liked Silva, but regression is real (with some rare exceptions), and it’s a bitch. You’re setting yourself up for a lot of ridicule.

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